Pixar is one of the foremost animation studios in the world. It’s also quite busy, as we saw last year when they released their schedule for the next few years. That means two animators finding free time is a pretty rare and beautiful thing. But rare and beautiful is exactly what describes the work of Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj.

The pair have released Borrowed Time, a short film, to Vimeo. (It was previously making the rounds of the festival circuit.) The story focuses on the son of a sheriff, who’s been one too long himself. Told through flashbacks, the story reveals its tragedy bit-by-bit. Set in the Wild West, Borrowed Time is devastating. No spoilers, but it’s pretty much the most heartbreaking thing you’ll see this week.

The film, about guilt and the determination necessary to overcome tremendous obstacles, was made possible through Pixar’s co-op program. In that program, Pixar employees are allowed usage of Pixar equipment in their free time for the purposes of professional development. The film took five years. Says Coats:

”There were a lot of technical hurdles. There’s usually a team of people who are on one of our movies that we really didn’t have available to help on our team. So we had to build everything.

What do you think? Do you want to see more short films like this from talented animators? Let us know in the comments below or @WhatsTrending on Twitter!